Robertson hopes to continue form at St. Pete
The roar from the Sebring media center came after Murry moved the Robertson Racing Ford GT MK 7 into third place, passing Jörg Bergmeister in one of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. It marked the first time since the car’s debut at Sebring a year ago that the Doran-built entry ran in podium position on pace.
It also whetted the team’s appetite for more, and the next chance is next week’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, the first street race of the season.
“It was really great for us," said Murry, who qualified fifth in GT2 and drove with the husband-wife duo of Andrea and David Robertson. “We had a chance to run somewhere else other than the back. It’s not that we can’t do it. The improvements aren’t from the power but the handling. Even some of the other drivers were saying the same thing.
“Last year we were almost five seconds off the pace at Sebring but at St. Petersburg we were closer percentage-wise," added Murry, who has served as a factory driver for Porsche, Lotus, BMW and Nissan in his extensive career. “I think we’ll be OK at St. Pete and I think we’ll be as good or better than at Sebring. Depending on the spares situation and the development schedule through the first half of the year, we should get closer and closer to the front."
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg from the St. Petersburg street circuit. The green flag is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 4. ABC Sports will televise the race live beginning at 1:30 p.m. Live Timing & Scoring and American Le Mans Radio can be found at the new americanlemans.com. Satellite radio subscribers can hear the race on XM Channel 242 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. ET.
The race also will mark the first street race for the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge. For tickets, visit americanlemans.com or gpstpete.com.